Srinagar, Jul 16 (KNO): Senior medical officers in Jammu and Kashmir have accused the government of bypassing norms by giving charge of administrative positions to junior medical officers while ignoring their senior counterparts.
Speaking to the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) on condition of anonymity, several medical officers expressed frustration over what they termed as a clear violation of seniority protocols. They alleged that junior medical officers with significantly less experience were given charge of posts such as Block Medical Officers, sidelining more experienced doctors from the seniority list.
Citing Government Order No. 429-JK(HME) of 2025, the medical officers said that the giving them charge of administrative posts made under the order sparked widespread resentment among senior medical officers "Not a single medical officer from the seniority list between serial numbers 750 to 1300 was considered for administrative roles. Instead, medical officers lower in the seniority order—beyond serial number 1300—were preferred," a senior doctor said.
He said that medical officers from 750-800 serial are from 2002-2005 batch and 1300-1400 are from 2012 batch.
The aggrieved medical officers questioned the criteria used for giving such charges and accused the administration of adopting a "pick-and-choose policy."
"It seems that seniority has been thrown to the winds. Nobody knows what the criteria is. If administrative posts were given to medical officers, it should have been given as per the seniority list," they said
The discontented senior medical officers said they were hopeful of transparent governance under Chief Minister Omar Abdullah's administration but were disappointed by the ongoing developments.
“We had hoped that the present dispensation would uphold fairness and transparency, but that isn’t happening on the ground,” they said.
Despite repeated requests to higher authorities, the medical officers allege that their concerns have been ignored.
They have now demanded the constitution of an independent committee to investigate the matter and take action against officials allegedly involved in flouting norms.
The doctors have urged Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, and Minister for Health and Medical Education Sakina Itoo to intervene and ensure justice is delivered—(KNO)